There it is, at long last. And happily I want to say after a 2nd run - it's worth the invested pennies. What strikes the listener at first is - how raw this record sounds and what was flattered in the orignal mix. This is something you're surely gonna miss out of sight if you listen to the 1975 edition: Purple Mk IV had the rawest sound in studio since 'In Rock' days right on this very record. The way Tommy processes his sound out of his equipment results with an awesomely sharp sound edge when paired with Jon Lord's Hammond organ. It was well audible on the 2000's releases of the jamming sessions the band had when they brought Bolin over. Original "Come Taste..." sounded like another band when compared to it. The new installment shows back the same band that jammed their asses off in Pirate Studios and did an exciting, incredibly high flight without Blackers on board.
There was a bit of me that felt that the remixes disc is still a bit overloaded with frequencies. In the modern tech days it's easy to pack up the sound layers beyond the listening pleasure levels. Not necessarily here, it might be just me. And I admit I just fall under the spell of the punch that this material receives after the remixing treatment. Things like "Coming Home" (there was a cut of few bars in a middle Bolin's solo on the album - remix nicely restores this bit - it sounds cool), "I Need Love" (with more than a minute of recording reinstalled at the end, again great playing by Tommy) and especially "Love Child" (a powerful soundtank despite the synthesizer sound Lord used in the track, great riff) mixes act simply like a headkick. I wish this kind of sound was recreatable anyhow. You can now hear so many nuances of Tommy's sound now, this great, organic sonics of "Teaser" sessions instead of overpolished embronic sound state from the original. Plans for the instruments work very well now, are greatly shaped up, it almost feels like adding a third dimension to this music (if it's ever possible). The machine rumbles now like a monster, it not necessarily did that before. Some tracks receive the sections lost under the fadeouts and there's plenty of wonderfully frenetic guitar playing in it. At the end of the playing session you're bound to whew with impression. Often disclaimed from being a Purple milestone, but when I listen to these tracks - I'm bound to disagree even if it leaves me in minority. Some of these tracks are riffier and raunchier than most of the mediocre stuff that happened on the non stand-out albums. The songwriting is exceptionally exciting at times - take "Drifter" and "You Keep On Moving" alone. Even the most favourite albums after "In Rock" but prior to "Come..." sound overpolished to mettalic shine in comparison to this mindbombing, deep, hard sound. I should leave it here and say: "wonderful stuff" - it's like Raphaelian mosaic offdusted and restated to the full throttle glory.
It's a great shame that the potential this line-up had did not manage to get righfully converted to a bigger stack of inspiring material. It still sound ridiculous to me - this often mentioned affair with forcing Tommy to play the vintage stuff note for note. If it's true - whoever was responsible for this wish - should feel guilty for the structural damage done to this source of the brillant rock sound the Mk IV was. One doesn't need to guide an extremely talented guitarist over the note trails by hand or order. And the powders of course, were Tommy and Glenn clean - maybe the ensemble would carry on a couple of succesfull years more. I wouldn't mind that (or should I say I'd prefer this over early Whitesnake boogie/blues artistry). They had a grip on great sound but they lost on the substance and emotion demons. Could they be well kept at bay or out of sight - we would have some more sparkling magic, I believe.
I like it a bloody lot. There are Purple remasters that are a crapped up affair to me in comparison to the originals, but that one is a winner. I do not hesitate to reccomend it to you!
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